Rajeev Kurapati

Review requested by publisher and provided by NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Burnout in Healthcare explores the balancing act medical professionals face daily with mounting expectations to decrease cost while maintaining quality care. The digitization of medicine has created an overload of information not previously available.

The author researches the nature of the slow burnout process and how professionals tend to overlook the symptoms in themselves. It can be easy to disregard irritability, anxiety, insomnia and depression as symptoms of a bigger issue. He shares his key identifying factors as: depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and decreased function at work which he refers to as DEF.

I’ve been a registered nurse for over 20 years, working in a variety of settings including hospital, school and health insurance. Each job has its own challenges which over time becomes stressful. After reading the detailed descriptions of emotional distress listed in this book, I realize I might not have been as “burned out” as I thought! The concept of job burnout is certainly not new especially for healthcare workers. He makes an important point regarding the major impact of technology and digitization in healthcare.

While the rise of technology does help with speed and accuracy of care, it can also have the reverse effect. When already overwhelmed workers are given more information to assess in the same time period it becomes an impossible cycle to break. In order to feel like you’ve accomplished most of your goals during the day, a doctor or nurse usually ignores the physical cues that indicate you need to take a break. It helps no one to work over 12 hours without taking a break to use restroom or eat lunch.

The book addresses ways in which institutions should address this ongoing epidemic. The ripple effect of the increased decline in workers emotional and physical health has long lasting effects. He suggests taking a proactive, engaging approach with the focus on effective communication and fostering professional growth. He reiterates that healthcare burnout is a systemic issue which needs to be measured and monitored with targeted solutions.

Although much work needs to be done at the administration level there are still ways in which individuals can improve their resilience in the workplace. The author provides detailed research based resources for his suggestions through out the book.
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